What was the kickstart to all these men in shed hi-fi outfits, was there some sort of government funding scheme they all took advantage of?
I suspect it was, at least in part, Thatcher’s ‘Enterprise Allowance Scheme’, which meant you could officially sign-on whilst building-up a new business assuming you could borrow a £grand for a single bank statement to show the dole. Certainly a lot happened in music, arts and the counterculture at that time, a very well know example being Creation Records, but also all those little one year businesses in places like Afflek’s Palace etc. Loads of bands, studios, club nights etc too.
New business start-ups were all over the place at that time as the whole unionised manufacturing industry was being dismantled by the Tories for political reasons. Many start-ups little more than an excuse to get some casual work without the risk of getting your dole stopped. It gave you a year without having to look over your shoulder all the time. In Liverpool and Manchester they were everywhere as there was just so much empty and derelict space available for next to no money.
It was widespread in the computer industry too as it was the peak of little independent games designers for the ZX Spectrum, BBC, Commodore 64 etc. I imagine hi-fi was the same, but I didn’t know anyone in the industry at the time. I was off in arts/music etc.
That whole culture defined the ‘80s for me. Just attempt after attempt after attempt to get off the dole, but without having to take some random shit job of no interest to me. Not that there were any. I lived in one of the worst unemployment black-spots in the UK.
